Somehow USITT 2018 is over already, I’m not quite sure how that happened. This year was my first year attending and I was unsurprised when I was researching and didn’t find anything on attending USITT as a wheelchair user. I’ve been a part-time manual chair user for some time now so while I didn’t use my chair as much as I had hoped, I did notice something the average able-bodied attendee would miss.

1. Carpet is EVERYWHERE

This is the main reason I didn’t use my chair as much as I should have. While convention centers are known for having carpet everywhere, I wasn’t expecting the expo floor to be carpeted. And it was a relatively plush carpeting too. The only other expo I’ve been to was Abilities Expo LA which, for obvious reasons, had gloriously smooth concrete floors. From what I’ve gathered by talking to veteran USITT goers, the carpet is there each year. For many, the expo floor is where they’ll log the most miles so it’s important to keep the carpeting in mind when planning your day as your push efficiency is going to plummet.

2. A lot of counters are at standing hight

This I really hadn’t considered but there were a number of booths and places that had counters at standing hight. The bookstore, registration and countless booths all had standing hight counters or tables.

3. There were sessions about technicians with disabilities!

My favorite session from the entire week was Opening the Scene Shop Door: Fulfilling Experiences for Students with Disabilities by Emmett Buhmann, Matt Plummer and Zack Chipman. We had a fantastic discussion between educators, students with disabilities and technicians with disabilities. I learnt so much from this session and was able to get some insight on some things I had been struggling with. I really hope this session happens again next year and we see more sessions regarding technicians with disabilities in the future.

4. The shuttles were not wheelchair accessible

This wasn’t surprising but would be good to keep in mind if you plan to use the shuttles USITT provides to their partnered hotels. The shuttles were those large coaches frequently used for school trips and tours. They did have cargo space underneath so depending on your mobility you may be able to store your chair under there and walk up the three or so steps to the seats.